Lantern-lens.



L. 1. HouzE.

LANTERN LENS.

APPLICATION man MAR.e,191a.

WITNESSES. INVENTOR.

LEON J'. HOUZE, OF POINT MARION, PENNSYLVANIA. i

LANTERN-LENS.

.Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jane, iai 7.

Application filed March 8, 1913. Serial No. 753,115.

lantern, which are particularly advantageous for use with head lights or lights of like character for automobiles, locomotives and other vehicles, though it is to be understood that the device may be applied .to' i lamps or lights used for other purposes.

The object of the invention is more el'ectively to distribute or diffuse the rays of light from the lamp so as to illuminate a greater area or to distribute the illumination more effectively over those portions of the roadway for example that it is necessary for the driver "of a vehicle to see plainly. v

llVith these objects in view, the invention consists in an improved construction and arrangement of lens, preferred embodiments of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a face view of one form of lens; Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional viewl of two superposed lenses illustrating a modified use of the invention; and Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of a still further modification of the lens.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the device comprises a concavo-convex lens 1 provided through' out its area with parallelcorrugatlons 2. In

forming a lens of this character I rstvproduce a corrugated sheet ofglass of required thickness 'by any of the well known methods -of window glass manufacture which will` impart a well polished surface to each face of the plate. I next take the corrugated sheet, reheat it, and bend the same into 'the concave-convex form here shown by means of a suitable bending mold, this operation being also so governed as not to injure the polished surfaces of the lens. The resultant article is a concavo-convex disk or lens with corl rugations running parallel across the face thereof. When this lens is .mounted in a lamp with the corrugations extending vertically, the rays of light emitted through it are more or less diffused in vall directions by the concave-convex shape of the lens, but are more particularly diffused laterally by reason of the arrangement of the corrugations. Therefore, a single lamp on an automobile, for example, may be utilized to illumlnate the entire width of the roadway, while at the same time, convexity of the -lens delects some of the rays downwardly to impinge upon the ground at a short distance in front of the light of the lamp.

It may be desirable in some instances to diffuse the light rays uniformly both laterally and vertically,v and in fact in all directions in front of the lantern. To this end I may mount two of the lenses heretofore described in the lantern, one with its corrugations extending vertically and superposed upon the other lens whose corrugations extend horizontally oI" at right angles to those of the' correlated'lens. This arrangement is illustrated in cross section in Fig. 3. By this arrangement, and by the use of simple and easily manufactured lenses, I procure a. very e'ective diffusion of light rays in all directions. This is an economical and simple way of securing this p result.

In addition to providing th'e lens plate with simple corrugations such as heretofore described, somewhat similar light dilfusing effects may be secured by a structure of lens such asthat shown in Fig. 4 in which the body ofthe lens-is provided with alternately arranged thin and thick portions 5 and 6, respectively. This structure may obviously be attained by pressing the. Hat plate first in dies of suitable contour to produce these thin and thick parallel areas, and then by bending this (ribbed) as distinguished from A (corrugated) disk in the concave-convex form.

It is to be noted that in all of the structures described the corrugations extend rectilineally and in parallel lines through-v out a concave-convex disk. This produces distinctly diiferent light diffusing effects from the ordinary form of corrugated or luted. lamp. shades and distinctly dierent effects from a lamp glass or lens which.

Aae

'is curvedonly in one direction. It is "the- :4

combination of the rectilineal parallel-corlrugations ina concave-convex disk which accomplishes the peculiar. results here sought after. c

While various embodiments of the inven- 10 lens being superposed one upon the other with the corrugations of one extending at right angles to the corrugations of the other.

ln testimony whereof l, the said LEON J. HoUzE have hereunto set my hand.

A LEON J. Homie.,

Witnesses lV. W. TABP, FRANK N. GANS. 

